Freedom Rides Museum to Virtually Host
Nationally Broadcast Event
with Freedom Riders and GOOD TROUBLE
Director Dawn Porter
(Montgomery,
AL) The Freedom Rides Museum, an historic property of the Alabama
Historical Commission, will host a special virtual event honoring the
release of GOOD TROUBLE, a powerful new film about Civil Rights legend
John Lewis. Fellow Freedom Riders Dr. Bernard Lafayette and Dr. Rip
Patton and GOOD TROUBLE Director Dawn Patton (TRAPPED, GIDEON’S ARMY) will participate in “Let’s Talk About GOOD TROUBLE” – a live Q&A virtual event held in concert with Magnolia Pictures and the Capri Theatre. More than 300 theatres around the country are carrying the livestreamed event via their platforms.
The
livestream will take place at the historic Montgomery Greyhound Bus
Station – now the site of the Freedom Rides Museum – the very location
where John Lewis, Bernard Lafayette, and others stepped off a bus and
were beaten by a mob while changing the course of history. Tune-in for a
virtual evening in celebration of the newly released documentary and to
all those getting into “good trouble” in the name of equality.
Newly premiered film John Lewis: GOOD TROUBLE profiles
the civil rights activist and Congressman, who dedicated his life and a
career to fighting for equality. The film has received raved reviews as
it brings into focus an intimate profile of the crusader whose humble
beginnings are cemented by Alabama roots. Universally
admired as one of the most courageous and principled leaders of the
Civil Rights Era, Lewis was one of the original 1961 Freedom Riders who mobilized to protest against interstate transportation segregation, and an organizer of 1964’s “Freedom Summer” to register African American voters across the South. As the young chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from
1963 to 1966, Lewis was one of the ‘Big Six’ Civil Rights leaders of
the era. He was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington for
Jobs and Freedom and Lewis has often been singled out for his
leadership and bravery on the Edmund Pettus Bridgein
Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. There, along with 600 other
nonviolent marchers, Lewis was met by Alabama state troopers who ordered
the protestors to disperse.
Theatre
goers will be familiar with the ‘talk back’ format, pairing subject
matter experts with the film, or in this case, with those who stood
beside John Lewis during various Civil Rights campaigns. The evening
will highlight connections to the historic Greyhound Bus Station that
now stands as a testament to the strength and courage of these ordinary,
mostly young people, whose extraordinary acts of sacrifice changed the
history of the nation and the world. Much like Lewis, the overwhelming
majority of the Freedom Riders have dedicated their lives to the cause
of equality and justice; their fight for freedom was not bound to the
months related to the rides.
“We are thrilled to present this tribute to a living monument to civil rights, and hero from Alabama,” said Martin McCaffery, Director, Capri Theatre.
“I only wish we were able to show it in the Capri Theatre where the
audience could collectively express their admiration for John Lewis.”
For tickets to the film John Lewis: GOOD TROUBLE, please visit the Capri Theatre’s website: www.capritheatre.org to
experience the film from the comfort of your own home via Virtual
Cinema. The Capri Theatre has generously decided to donate a portion of
the proceeds from the first week’s screening to the Friends of Freedom Rides Museum to continue supporting the work of the Freedom Rides Museum in documenting and interpreting this significant time in the Modern Civil Rights Movement.
Men
and women of diverse ages, races, and creeds, called themselves Freedom
Riders, traveling under the banner of non-violent protest and the right
to participate in desegregated travel as set forth in Boynton v. Virginia and the Interstate Commerce Act,
which forbade racial segregation in public transportation. Their goal
was to travel through the Deep South all the way through to New Orleans,
LA in commemoration of the seventh anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. The Riders did not begin or end their journey in Montgomery, AL, but their arrival changed the city and our nation.
Their
Alabama journey carried them through Anniston, AL where their bus was
firebombed; a second group of students on a Trailways Bus made it to
Birmingham, AL where they were met by more violence. Finally, the last
group of Riders, comprised of several students from Nashville, made
their way to the Capitol city. Unbeknownst to those traveling to
Montgomery from Birmingham, the protection of state police escorts
drifted away, and the Riders, none of whom were older than 22, stepped
off a bus at the Montgomery Greyhound Station on
May 20, 1961 at 10:23am. They were met by a mob that grew into the
thousands as the city descended into chaos. Riders, including now-Congressman John Lewis, Jim Zwerg, Bernard Lafayette,
and others, were brutally beaten. The ensuing events surrounding their
arrival initiated a chain reaction all the way up to the Federal Courts
and the Kennedy Administration that resulted in landmark rulings by Federal Judge Frank M. Johnson,
which continue to shape Civil Rights law today. Their goal was to help
end racial segregation in public transportation – and they did.
The 1961 Freedom Rides were a watershed event, one Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
described as “a psychological turning point in our whole struggle.” The
historic bus station stands today as a testament to the effectiveness
of nonviolent direct-action protest and how these methods were employed
by ordinary citizens to garner broad support for the civil rights
movement from national leaders.
The Freedom Rides Museum, located in the historic Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station,
profiles the courageous actions of more than 430 ordinary people who
risked their lives and freedom for equal treatment under the law and is
one of only two sites in the nation exclusively dedicated to
interpreting the Freedom Rides and its enormous impact on American civil
rights history.
Eddie Griffith, Chairman, Alabama Historical Commission “We
are honored to share the story of their courage and commitment to
justice and equality for the thousands of visitors from around the world
who visit the Freedom Rides Museum each year.”
“The
actual scene of the event, or people may call it the scene of the
crime, is important because as our young people come along, they have
got to be able to put it into perspective. It is just not simply a
narrative, but you can see the actual place. And that’s why I’m so glad
the museum is there, at that same bus station,” said Freedom Rider Dr. Bernard Lafayette.
“It shows it is a reality, and it did happen. We can go revisit that
and be able to imagine it happening. It just isn’t an artform, it is a
reality of our history.”
About the Participants:
Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr. was
born July 29, 1940 in Tampa, FL, growing up in Tampa and Philadelphia.
At the time of the Freedom Rides, he was a student at the American
Baptist Theological Seminary, in Nashville; a leader in the Nashville
Student Movement. He stayed in Jackson after bailing out to recruit new
Freedom Riders and organize the Jackson Nonviolent Movement.
Following
the Freedom Rides, Dr. Lafayette worked for SCLC, helping run numerous
campaigns, including Selma, AL, in 1961 and 1965. He served as the
national coordinator for the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. In the
mid-1970s, he helped develop a curriculum for Kingian nonviolence. He
has since taught at several colleges and universities, serving as Senior
Scholar-in Residence at the Candler Divinity School at Emory University
and chair of the national board of SCLC. In 2016, Dr. Lafayette was
awarded the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and
Peace for his work as a civil rights activist.
Dr. Ernest “Rip” Patton, Jr. was
born March 10, 1940 in Nashville, and grew up there. At the time of the
Freedom Rides, he was a student at Tennessee State University, a
drummer in the marching band and active in the Nashville Student
Movement. Following his arrest and sentence in Jackson, he helped train
subsequent Freedom Riders and continued to work in the movement.
In
1972, Dr. Patton began a career as a truck driver and was one of eight
drivers chosen by the American Trucking Association to travel the
country promoting highway safety. He was also the first long-haul truck
driver selected to serve on the National Highway Safety Advisory
Committee. He retired in 2006 in Nashville, where he volunteers in the
Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library, speaking about the
movement. Every year he helps guide a civil rights tour for students
from the Stetson School of Law.
About the Capri Theatre
The
non-profit Capri Theatre is Montgomery’s longest continuously operating
movie theatre. Community based, the Capri Theatre specializes in
independent, foreign and documentary films and looks forward to the day
it can safely reopen its doors to the public. www.capritheatre.org.
About the Freedom Rides Museum
Working
with concerned citizens, The Alabama Historical Commission saved the
Greyhound Bus Station from demolition in the mid-1990s. The Museum is
located at the intersection of S. Court St. and Adams Avenue in downtown
Montgomery. An award-winning exhibit on the building's exterior traces
the Freedom Riders' history. It uses words and images of the Freedom
Riders, those who supported them, and those who opposed them. Interior
exhibits highlight additional information on the Freedom Riders and the
way in which buildings were designed for racial segregation. Today, the
Alabama Historical Commission operates this significant site.
Located in
historic downtown Montgomery at 468 S. Perry Street, the Alabama
Historical Commission is the state historic preservation agency for
Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in
1966 with
a mission to protect, preserve and interpret Alabama’s historic places.
AHC works to accomplish its mission through two fields of endeavor:
Preservation and promotion of state-owned historic sites as public
attractions; and, statewide programs to assist people, groups, towns,
and cities with local preservation activities. For a complete list of
programs and properties owned and operated by the AHC, hours of
operation, and admission fees please visit ahc.alabama.gov.
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